Daughter of Death

VI

When they walked outside, Hallez was shocked to see the sun was low in the sky. More time had passed than she realized. Fiona stood outside the door, shifting from one foot to another. When she spotted Hallez, she ran over, the cheerful expression from before back on her face.

    "So, how'd it go?" Fiona asked, her wavy brown hair bouncing up and down. "You were in there for a long time, I thought you weren't going to come back out! Am I supposed to show you around now?"

    Hallez shrugged uncomfortably. Outside, past the steps, a crowd of legionnaires had gathered, and were staring at Hallez until June came and shooed them away, slowly. "I got accepted into the Legion, and yes."

    "Awesome! Well, let's start here, I guess. This is the Praetorium—"

    "You're not freaked out," Hallez observed, trying not to let the surprise be evident in the tone of her voice.

    Fiona knew what she was talking about. "No, why would I be?" Suddenly, her voice turned serious. Although she was shorter than Hallez by a few inches, she looked her right in the eyes, and put her hands on Hal's shoulders. "Hallez, I know this sounds sappy, but hear me out: I've only known you for a few hours, and yet I know that, even if your father is Death, you are good. You won't hurt anybody without good intentions."

    Hallez wanted to argue, but she was interrupted by June.

    "The Friday NSG are canceled for today!"

    Groans and mutters rang out from the mass of teens.

    "BUT, BUT, BUT!" June interrupted. The crowd went silent. "This will give you MORE time to prepare for Saturday's MFSDO, which will be moved back a few hours due to an emergency Senate meeting!"

    Some cheered, while some groaned again.

    "AND you can head straight to dinner tonight!"

    Everyone cheered this time, and June looked on, her shoulders shaking in laughter.

    Hallez looked at Fiona in question as everyone hurried off, murmuring among themselves, except this time in excitement.

    "We have battles in the valley twice a day," Fiona explained. "Practice games. In the morning and at night. Six days a week, each day a different category. Sundays are free, sometimes even Saturdays, but that's rare. Dinner is only served in the mess hall after the games. NSG means Night Strategic Games, and MFSDO means Morning Fort Strategic Defense-Offense. You can probably tell that we were feeling very creative with the names."

    Hallez nodded, feeling amused, but not showing it. "Can we continue the tour?"

†††

Fiona showed Hallez around the Castra.

    "It means fort, or fortress," she explained, halfway through. "Or military camp, or anything that relates to it. It's built to be able to fit the entire Legion and everything they need to live here. Oh, and don't look him in the eyes."

    Hallez turned back to Fiona from where she had been studying a German Shepherd, sitting to the side of the wide road, which was apparently called Via Principalis, meaning the "main road", where the most important buildings were; For example the mess hall, the storage unit ("Backup storage unit," Fiona claimed), the armoury, the weaponry, a forge, a laboratory for some reason, and, of course, the Praetorium, which was where the praetors, and sometimes a consul, slept.

    "Why not?"

    Fiona answered after she'd given the dog an affectionate pat on the head, careful not to look at him. "His name is Orpheus, he's our adopted mascot. But some time back, Orpheus lost his ability to see. Some of the children of Vulcan—god of forges, metalwork, fire, and a few other things I think—and the second consul, Pauline Hakuna, daughter of Minerva, gathered together and gave him his sight back. But then they did some tinkering, as a prank, and made it so he could shoot lasers at anyone he chooses. Don't worry, it's unlikely he will."